A study about the impact of energy saving climate on college students’ energy saving behavior: based on analysis using the hierarchical linear model

Abstract

College students, as a new force in energy saving and emission reduction, play an important role in environmental protection. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the factors that affect college students’ energy-saving behaviors at the individual and organizational levels. In this study, an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model is employed to narrow this gap. A total of 661 valid data points collected from 51 Chinese universities were used to test related hypotheses. The findings reveal that attitude, perceived responsibility, perceived behavior control and subjective norms are significantly related to energy-saving intention. Meanwhile, energy-saving intention is the most decisive factor for Chinese college students’ energy-saving behavior. More importantly, this paper verified the positive effect of organizational factors (energy-saving climate) on students’ energy-saving intentions and behaviors. Finally, implications for improving students’ energy-saving intention and theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• energy saving
• theory of planned behavior
• sustainable development
• hierarchical linear model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2022.2093172

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by The National Social Science Fund of China (No. 20BGL219).